The Basques are the oldest ethnic group in Europe. Their homeland is known as Euzkadi. They live in northern Spain along the Bay of Biscay, adjacent areas of southern France, and the western Pyrennes Mountains. Their culture is traditional and rural. This creates a conflict with the modern and urban Spanish culture that's associated with industrialization. The main conflict is that the Basques want independence from Spain.
During Dictator General Franco's regime (1939-1975), expressions of Basque national identity were banned. In 1959, a Basque separatist movement emerged called Euskadi Ta Aaskatasuna, or ETA. In 1968, a faction emerged parallel to the separatist movement called ETA-Militar, or ETA-M. This group resorted to an armed struggle for independence. They mainly target national and regional officials and government buildings.
Throughout the years, many suspected ETA members were arrested and/or killed. Although there were many talks of peace settlements, etc, none took place; therefore, the conflict goes on.
Even to this day, ETA movements can be seen in Europe. Recently, in France, a policeman was shot and killed near Paris; this was the first French police officer killed by ETA. Ten ETA members are suspected. Last Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkosy promised to hunt down the group of suspected militants of ETA. He warned that they "will be mercilessly pursued."
http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Spain-Basque-web/Spain-Basque_briefing.html
http://eitb.com/news/politics/detail/379662/sarkosy-warns-eta-they-will-be-mercilessly-pursued/
I believe that it wasn't right for Dictator Franco to have banned expressions of the Basques. He was just inviting trouble to come. In fact, it did. Because of him, now there are major ETA versus Europe problems. However, I did not think it was right for ETA to come back with ETA-Militar and make war; they made the problem worse by adding violence to the boiling pot. There can be a solution to this problem, although, anything thought of would be hard to put into place if both sides didn't cooperate. They would have to be ready for a compromise or negotiation. They are both scared of the other group in a way because of what they can each do to the other. In that sense, a compromise or negotiation would be hard. However, it is not
impossible.
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